ROME, Italy - Oceans and seas are
becoming noisier with more vessels, increased seismic surveys for oil
and gas, off-shore construction and recreation, and a new generation of
military sonars, an alliance of wildlife groups said today. They warn
that the cacophony is intensifying threats to marine mammals that use
sound to communicate, forage for food and find mates.
The war regroups. What if Barack Obama, as he pursues his pragmatic
strategy that so far seems to be 10 parts "reassurance" (to the
defense and financial establishment) to one part "change," is
really finished with his anti-war base for the next four years?
Even saddled with a two-front, budget-busting war and a collapsing economy, President Barack Obama may be able to accomplish a lot. With a friendly Congress and a relieved world, he could make short work of some of the most egregious overreaches of the Bush White House -- from Guantanamo to those Presidential signing statements. For all the rolling up of sleeves and "everything is going to change" exuberance, however, taking on the Pentagon, with its mega-budget and its mega-power, may be the hardest task he faces.
The Mega-Pentagon
The word "pirate" has come into the news for the first time in memory, as raiders armed with grenade launchers and grappling hooks take over vessels headed through waters off Somalia for the Suez Canal. Last week, four ships were captured, including a massive Saudi oil tanker, the Sirius Star. More than 3 million barrels of oil pass through those waters every day en route to markets in Europe and the United States. On Thursday, the pirates announced that they wanted $25 million for ransom for the Saudi tanker.
WASHINGTON - Private security contractors operating in Iraq could
face Iraqi prosecution for acts committed when they supposedly had
immunity from Iraqi law, U.S. officials said Thursday.
A new U.S.-Iraq security agreement doesn't specifically prevent Iraqi
officials from bringing criminal charges retroactively in cases such as
the September 2007 shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians by contractors
protecting a State Department convoy, officials told security company
officials during meetings in Washington Thursday.
Human rights activists, religious leaders, and military veterans will
descend on Fort Benning, Ga.
this weekend to demand the closing of a notorious military training facility
that has tutored some of Latin America's
most brutal soldiers and dictators.
"As Bad As Rumsfeld?" The title jars, doesn't it. The more so, since Defense Secretary Robert Gates found his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, such an easy act to follow. But the jarring part reflects how malnourished most of us are on the thin gruel served up by the Fawning Corporate Media (FCM).
As the Bush administration's mass exodus gets underway, President-elect Obama is hearing from a lot of quarters that his cabinet should include one key holdover. According to this thinking, he should leave the Pentagon in the hands of its current Secretary, Robert Gates. Fortunately, the new president will have in-hand an easy way to judge whether or not this is a good idea.
A large bipartisan cohort thinks it is.
This week and into next, NorthCom and NORAD are conducting a joint exercise called "Vigilant Shield '09."
The focus will be on "homeland defense and civil support," a NorthCom press release states.
From November 12-18, it will be testing a "synchronized response of federal, state, local and international partners in preparation for homeland defense, homeland security, and civil support missions in the United States and abroad."
WASHINGTON - A senior Pentagon advisory group, in a series of bluntly worded briefings, is warning President-elect Barack Obama that the Defense Department's current budget is "not sustainable," and he must scale back or eliminate some of the military's most prized weapons programs.
